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New Pope Leo XIV Brings a Message of Peace and Hope
“Peace be with you all,” began the first American Pope in his first address.
In a historic moment for the Catholic Church, white smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel to signal the election of a new pope this week. Soon after, once-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago stepped onto the Papal balcony as Pope Leo XIV, the first American to hold the papacy.
Addressing the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo’s first words as pontiff set a tone of grace and humility. “Peace be with you all,” he said simply. What followed was a deeply personal and spiritual call to unity.
“Dearest brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, who has given his life for God’s flock,” he continued. “I too would like that this greeting of peace enters into your heart, reaching your families, and all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to all the earth. Peace be with you.”
As Catholics around the world celebrated the arrival of a new spiritual leader, journalists and Vatican-watchers immediately began poring over Pope Leo’s past, looking for clues to how he might shape the future of the global Church. A former missionary and canon lawyer with pastoral roots in Peru and academic ties in Rome, Pope Leo brings a rare blend of talents to the…